


Into the Other Universe

by dilruhl



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-26 09:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30104073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dilruhl/pseuds/dilruhl
Summary: Daniel was so excited to meet Max. However, he learned that the boy he spoke to an hour earlier had actually died two years ago.orDaniel and Max meet on social media. But they are living in different parallel universes. Max which is in Daniel's universe, died in an accident. And Daniel is a F1 driver in Max's universe.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	1. Daniel Meet with His Universe's Max

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my first language, so I'm already sorry for my mistakes.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter and please leave a comment and let me know what you think :)

**Maxy 💙**

**You know I care about you**

**Dan 🧡**

**What happened?**

**Maxy 💙**

**Nothing**

**Why do you think that something has happened?**

**Dan 🧡**

**Idk**

**I didn't expect that all of a sudden**

**Maxy 💙**

**I just wanted to say. That's all**

**Dan 🧡**

**Okey Maxy. Then I care about you too**

**Beside I'll be in London in an hour**

Although Max is from the Netherlands, he now lives in London. After his parents divorced, living with his father became much more difficult. And he just used for university to escape from home. After moving to UK he met Lando and became friends with him.

In the other hand, Daniel was on the other side of the world. He spent most of his time in his father's farm. When he wasn't on the farm, he was working in a beach cafe which is belong to his friend Michael. He started planning this a few months after they met Max. Putting aside most of his pocket money that father gave him and tips earned at the cafe.

They had met on social media a year ago entirely by chance. Maybe it wasn't really by chance. If you believe in fate or something. They really couldn't be sure. The message, which were a few at first, have increased gradually. They became friends very quickly. Max wasn't the type of person who made a lot of friends. Except for Lando, he didn't even have a friend he met all the time. On the other hand, it was easy to be friends with Daniel. Even the other is older than him.

Daniel didn't tell Max about his planned vacation to London until his money reached a certain level. He didn't want to excite the other in vain. Ever since he told him about his journey to England, he had been so excited. After sending the message to Max, he locked the phone and lifted it. He closed his eyes and waited for his excitement to subside. He stopped his swinging leg, which is he wasn't unaware until now, before someone complains again. The rest of the flight was completely foggy. He really didn't remember anything and he hadn't even had a single glass of alcohol.

The first thing he did as soon as his plane landed in London was to check the address Max gave him. Maybe he should have checked into the hotel and left his suitcase first. But his body, which is now on the autopilot, did not agree with him. He had already given Max's address to the taxi when he realized where he was really going. I guess the hotel could have waited for him a little bit more. 

The taxi stopped on a not too crowded street. Daniel knew some parts of the street from the pictures Max sent him. They lived with Lando in an apartment not far from their university. Max mentioned once that he had another roommate. But that was all that Daniel knows of this roommate.

Suddenly, all the excitement in his body was replaced by tension. He stopped for a while in front of the apartment building while holding his suitcase. He took a deep breath and walks through the open metal door. As he slowly passed the apartment doors, he found the door with a small metal number three hanging on it. He took another deep breath and knock on the door. 

He waited for someone to open the door as his heart pounds excitedly in his chest. When the brown door finally opened, a pair of blue eyes behind him didn't belong to the person he was expecting.

The brown curly-haired boy looked curiously at Daniel's face and then his suitcase. "Are you looking for someone?" Lando asked with curious.

Daniel quickly changed his posture when he realizes that he is staring at him too long. "I'm sorry. Max knew I would come." explained quickly. 

The other boy's eyes open in surprise when he heard Daniel. His lips opened to say something. However, no words came out of his mouth. Daniel began to panic when he saw that the eyes of the child in front of him are starting to water. He had no idea what he was doing wrong. 

A little hiccup came out of his lips "Charles! Would you come and look at the door?!" Lando shouted into the house. The curly haired boy gets lost in the hallway behind the door after that. Leaving behind a completely stunned Daniel.

A little later, the other boy was replaced by a boy wearing black glasses. He must be Charles, Daniel thought. He had a very angry expression on his face and Daniel wiggles nervously, still not understanding what is happening.

"What did you say to him?" The anger in Charles's voice matched the expression on his face.

"Nothing, I swear! I'm a friend of Max-" Daniel tried to explain himself. But, he is interrupted by Charles.

Charles shout "Enough! Cut this ridiculous joke now!" he was sure his voice was heard from the street.

"What do you mean i don't understand. I am not joking." Daniel said. He was still confused.

"Max died two years ago asshole" This is the last thing Daniel heard before the door close in his face.

As Charles's words passed through his brain, he just stared at the closing door. How could this be true? He had texted Max an hour at most. Could this all be a ridiculous joke, as Charles said? But what were all those pictures and video calls?

With his shaking hands, he pulled his phone back as the panic slowly took over his body. He needs to be sure. So he texts Max.

**Dan 🧡**

**Are you at home right now?**

Max's answer came soon after.

**Max 💙**

**Yeah obviously**

**Where have you been?**

**Dan 🧡**

**I'm right in front of the apartment door**

This time it took longer for Max's message to arrive.

**Max 💙**

**No**

**You're not.**

**Dan 🧡**

**Believe me or not**

**I'am**

**Max 💙**

**I checked.**

**Don't make fun of me**

**Dan 🧡**

**Do you know what's interesting?**

**You are dead**

**Max 💙**

**What the hell**

**What are you talking about Dan?**

**Dan 🧡**

**Idk You tell me**

**Max 💙**

**I really don't understand anything.**

**But thanks to ruin my day**

This is the last message Max texted. And now Daniel was standing in front of the door, much more confuse. He rereaded his conversations with Max again. But was seemed more and more meaningless as he read. So he decided to knock on the door again. This has to work out. Not just because he came here from Australia.

The boy who has to be Charles opens the door again. He frowned when he see Daniel again on the other side of the door. It was clear that he was not happy to see him. 

"What do you want?" Charles spoke with glare.

"I just want to show something. I swear I'll go later." Daniel spoke with hope. His only chance was that Charles accepted it. So swiftly he added "Please?"

Charles rolled his eyes involuntarily. The expression on his face didn't change at all. "Okey" he says eventually.

Daniel quickly pulled out his phone again and opened one of the pictures that Max sent him. When he found the picture he is looking for, he turns the phone screen towards the boy who is waiting impatiently for him. "Is this your friend Max?"

Charles glared at Daniel for the last time before looking at the phone. He didn't know what Daniel was planning, but if this was a joke, it was getting really annoying now. 

On the other hand, Daniel expected him to say "no, this isn't our friend, you come to the wrong house. This Max sits next door." But these words never come.

"Yes" Charles started to talk then stop suddenly. Leaning a little more towards the phone screen, looked at the picture more carefully. "But..." he stoped again.

"But?" Daniel asked.

"This look like our flat but this isn't our couch." Charles confusedly explained. 

"Could it be an old picture?" 

"No, We've never had a couch like this."

Now Charles was just as confuse as Daniel. Two boy look at each other with the same expression on their faces. As if the answer is on the other's face. 


	2. Max meet with His Universe's Daniel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max was confused. He was even more confused when he returned from his walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter 🥰 please leave a comment and let me know what you think

Max hung up the phone and dropped it on the bed next to it. He was angry. No, he was frustrated. Daniel talked really weird today.

He decided to go for a walk, thinking that he would go crazy if he continued to stare at the cream-colored walls of his room for a while. He could have wandered a block or two and came back before Charles and Lando returned home. He tucked his phone and wallet into his back pocket. The weather wasn't cool today. That's why he didn't need to wear a jacket. He took his keys from the dining table just before he left the flat.

The street wasn't that crowded at this time of day. Still, he couldn't say he was completely alone on the street. As people passed by, he put his hands in his pockets and keep walking. He was watching his steps without looking up. And when he hit someone he didn't even see it coming. Even though he lost his balance, he didn't fall. 

"I'm really sorry," Max said immediately. He looked up to check if the stranger was okay. As soon as he raised his head, he was surprised by the face he encountered.

"No, not a problem," Daniel replied with his signature smile.

"Daniel?" Max asked in surprise.

As soon as Daniel heard his own name from the other, his smile widened further. "One and only."

Daniel was slipping into one of his black loose sweatshirts. His curly hair looked shorter on screen than it is now. The same thing was that his hair was totally tangled. He looked familiar and so strange at the same time.

There was a little silence between them. Max wanted to hug him. However, he was too angry with him for this. He should have asked what was the conversation just before. But he didn't have the courage for that. He definitely hadn't imagined their first encounter like this. They both stood opposite each other in the middle of the street without saying anything.

Daniel was the one who broke the silence after a while. "Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walked by again?"

Max made a fake vomiting sound. He had to bite his lower lip in order not to laugh. "Do not use that on anyone else"

Daniel's smile returned to his face. "Why not? Are you already jealous of me?"

"Yeah, you wish." Max joked. He was glad that whatever had just happened, Daniel was the same as before. 

"You know you're the first person to recognize me here. And I've been here for a week." Max had spoken early because Daniel was talking strangely again.

"A WEEK?!" Max's voice was a little louder than usual this time. For a few second the gaze of the few people around him had turned into two of them. "What do you mean? You said I'll land in an hour. And that was two hours before!"

Daniel's smile gave way to a confused expression. "Have we met before? So strange, How can I forget these beautiful eyes?"

Max frowned, placing a solemn expression on his face. "Stop joking. This isn't funny."

Daniel looked in Max's face as if trying to understand something. As if he looked hard enough that he would understand what he meant. Or maybe he was just waiting for the other to say I'm kidding. He was just as confused as Max. He shifted the weight of his leg from one to the other. 

"I guess you're confusing me with someone else. I'm Daniel Ricciardo who is a race driver in f1" Daniel stopped for a minute. "That means you don't actually know me. I'm upset now."

Max stood while trying to understand what the other was saying. It was as if the whole world stopped suddenly and they not standing in the middle of a street. He tried to stop all those words floating around in his head. The message Daniel sent him suddenly came to his mind. _Do you know what's interesting? you're dead._

"Hey, Are you okay?" Max separated from his thoughts with Daniel's voice. He quickly shook his head up and down to mean yes.

"I just... Do you have time?"

Daniel lifted his arm and checked his watch. When the smile fell on his face, Max knew what the next answer would be. Still, he waited calmly for the other's response.

"I'm sorry mate," sadly explained "I have to be in a meeting. If I'm a little bit later Zak will kill me. I'm too young to die."

Without letting Max say anything, Daniel reached for his backpack. Max hadn't even noticed that the other was wearing a backpack. He pulled the card from the front pocket of his purse and handed it to the other.

"This was for my mother but she couldn't make it. Find me in the paddock" Having said this, Daniel hurried on, passing by Max.

Max quickly turned and looked at the man who was hurrying away. Daniel stopped in front of a car down the street. He looked in the direction of Max for the last time before getting into the car. When he saw the younger one looking at him, a big smile settled on his face. He raised his hand to greet the other and got into his car and drove away.

Max stood still for a moment and continued to stare at Daniel's car, which was no longer there. What exactly had happened just now? The man he had just met looked just like Daniel, he spoke just like him, their names were exactly the same. But somehow he wasn't the daniel he knew. Maybe all of this was a silly joke. Then where did Daniel get to the paddock pass?

He lowered his head and looked at the card Daniel had given him. Maybe the card was fake. No, he didn't think Daniel would make such a joke on their first met.

After tucking the card in his pocket, he turned on his heels and started walking towards the house. It was easy for him to come back as he didn't get far from home. Lando and Charles hadn't yet returned. He hadn't been out for too long anyway.

He went back to his room and dropped himself on his bed. He sighed loudly. He patted his face with his hands and then took out his phone. He wanted to know. He needed to know.

**Max 💙**

**You won't believe me when I say what happened**

**Dan 🧡**

**I thought you were mad at me**

**Max 💙**

**I've never said anything like that**

**Dan 🧡**

**I know you**

Max looked at Daniel's message with a smile that he didn't realize was forming on his face. Sometimes it frightened him that Daniel knew him so well. Sometimes it made him full of unstoppable love inside. He didn't exactly understand either. So he didn't know how to explain this.

**Max 💙**

**Sorry**

**It was just so ridiculous**

**Dan 🧡**

**I know Maxy. It's okay.**

**What happened?**

**Max 💙**

**I met you**

**Dan 🧡**

**Yeah, About a year ago**

**Max 💙**

**No**

**I mean I met with someone who is just like you. but not you at the same time.**

**Dan 🧡**

**I'm confused**

**Max 💙**

**I met with Daniel Ricciardo who is a race driver.**

**Dan 🧡**

**I'm more confused than before**

**Max 💙**

**I know right.**

**If this is a joke stop now**

**Dan 🧡**

**I'm not kidding, Max. I told you**

**Are you at home right now?**

**Max 💙**

**Yeah**

**Dan 🧡**

**video call?**

**Max 💙**

**Okay**

Max nervously changed his posture. He tried to straighten his hair before Daniel's call appeared on his screen. He didn't remember ever being so nervous about talking to him before. 

He accepted before the call was closed. His heart skipped a beat as Daniel's face appeared on the screen. Later he noticed the house behind him. He could have sworn the couch which daniel sits on was in the living room. However, his seat was brown. This one was white.

"Hey, Maxy." When Daniel spoke, he drew his gaze from the seat in the back and looked back at his face.

"Hey, Where are you?" Max asked in wonder.

But before Daniel answered, a hiccup from someone else interrupted the conversation. Max frowned at the noise. He wanted to ask Daniel where he was again. What was that hiccup? Just as he was about to say something, a word interrupted again

"It's really his voice," with another hiccup. Max recognized the voice instantly. How could he was confused when the only sound in the house was the voice of Lando. What he didn't understand is where Daniel and Lando found each other?

Taking his phone in his other hand, he straightened on the bed and took a sitting position. He could see Daniel looking somewhere on the back of the phone. He was probably looking towards Lando. 

"Is he Lando?" he asked. There were a few more questions he wanted to ask, but he would ask them all in turn.

"Yes but no." Here we go again, he thought. When he woke up this morning, all he wanted was to meet Daniel. He had met him now but nothing was as he had imagined.

Daniel was trying to say something again. This time the phone was taken in hand quickly. For a while, Max watched the camera being pulled back and forth. Later, Lando's image came to the screen. His eyes were swollen like he had been crying for hours. His eyes were still shining with tears. Slowly, panic was taking over Max. Thousands of scenarios were spinning in his head.

"OMG, Lando! What happened? Where are you? Where is Charles? And How did you meet with Daniel?" It was up to here to ask his questions in order.

Another hiccup came out from Lando. "You live... I miss you so much" he looked like he hadn't heard any of Max's questions. 

"Lando we just had breakfast together in the morning." 

It looked like Lando would start crying again. Max was both worried about his friend and trying to understand what was happening. Realizing that Lando couldn't speak anymore, Daniel took his phone back.

"I know you're very confused right now. I will tell you everything. At least as far as I know. Are you ready?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take care of yourself. See you next chapter 👋🏻


	3. Insecurity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried something but I don't know if it worked. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think about it

_"I know you're very confused right now. I will tell you everything. At least as far as I know. Are you ready?"_

Max looked straight at Daniel. "You are scaring me."

"Actually, I don't know much either." Daniel turned the camera sideways to allow more space to enter the frame. “You are at home now. And I'm at your house right now. They are exactly the same except for a few differences between the houses we have been in. Also, we both met another version of the other. Lando says we live in other worlds. I realize it sounds like a lot of science fiction movies. But we couldn't find a more logical explanation. "

Max waited quietly for the other to finish. "Like parallel universes?"

Daniel nodded in agreement. "Exactly."

Daniel had told him he would explain everything, but Max found himself much more confused. "So how do we do this?" As Max spoke, his index finger showed Daniel on the phone screen and then himself.

“I don't have an answer to that yet. I'm also very new. " Daniel finished his sentence with a big smile. Max's lips duplicated the other's smile, as usual.

He took the phone in his other hand because his arm ached a little. "So I really died in that world." Asked. A hiccup was heard again from inside the room. Max knew that Lando wasn't his friend. Still, he couldn't stop worrying about him. He always had a soft side towards Lando.

Max thought it was strange to talk about it. After all, you didn't have to talk to someone about your own death every day. It was giving you goosebumps that you died in another universe, even though you knew that you were living here while standing there. Still, he opened the subject.

The glowing smile on Daniel's face gave way to an expression of sadness. "Yeah, On a school trip or something like that ” He explained briefly. He didn't know much about the subject either. Lando was still very sensitive about it. That's why he couldn't ask too many questions.

However, he quickly added to prevent the environment from falling back into silence. “I also became a f1 driver in some way. How many races have I won? " he joked.

Max was surprised by Daniel's question. Actually, it was not a surprising question. However, he realized that he hadn't googled Daniel's name yet. So he had no idea about the answer to this question.

"I'll ask him when I go racing this weekend." Then he removed the card from his back pocket and handed it towards the camera. The phone was taken off his hand again, as Daniel was stunned to understand what Max was showing him.

This time there was Charles in front of the camera. Max was momentarily surprised to see him. Lando was almost the same as in his world. Whereas Max now seemed to be looking at another version of Charles. This Charles' hair was a little lighter in color. And he was wearing glasses.

“Lucky bastard! You grab the best seat to watch the race." Charles glanced at the screen with a strange smile. "I never thought I'd be glad to see you."

Max stared at the screen for a while, not knowing what to say. His lips curved up slightly. “I can't say the same thing. This morning, you had some of those creams you put on your hair all over the bathroom. How many times have I told you to pack the boxes when you're done. " There was false anger in his words. Actually, he was really angry, but not with this Charles.

Charles responded with a big laugh. His laughter faded slowly into a sad smile. “I know it's not you, but you sound just like him. For your information, I am telling you that I have been cleaning the bathroom when I'm done for 2 years. 

"Did I have to die to make you do this?" Max asked, jokingly.

He looked at the screen with pride when Charles' sad expression changed again with a laugh. It was true that he and Charles got along like a dog and a cat. And he wouldn't look after him as much as he did to Lando. However, he didn't like to see the sad expression on the other's face.

Daniel's voice interrupted them "I wonder if I can get my phone back?"

Charles smiled for the last time at Max on the screen and handed the phone to his owner. Max would need time to assimilate what he had just learned and his emotional overload. Still, he smiled towards the camera, not wanting to worry Daniel.

When Daniel appeared on his screen again, the smile didn't look right. He was hardly smiling now. Maybe Max himself was smiling at the camera just like that. Both needed some time to work through all this.

"So are you going to race?" Daniel asked. However, he did not seem to want to know the answer.

“Yes, I mean I know most of your childhood. We can see what is different. "

Daniel was preparing to say something when Max's attention shifted to a sound coming from outside his room. He tried to understand what was happening, but he couldn't understand what the other was saying.

Max returned to the camera after a while. “I have to close now. Charles and Lando are here. " Max explained. “I can hardly get along with one Charles. I can't bear two Charles. "

Charles protested against his word while Daniel laughing so hard. Although Max wanted to stay and watch Daniel' laugh a little more, he really should have gone. He was serious about Charles. He couldn't imagine the two Charles together.

Daniel said when he finally managed to stop his laughter. "See you, Maxy."

"See you." Max answered quickly and ended the call just before his door opened.

***

Daniel knew he wouldn't be able to sleep at all that night. All this was ridiculous. Aside from having no idea, it was upsetting that Max passed away in this universe. Although he knew that Max was not the Max he knew, he was annoyed. He didn't know how to fix this. He didn't even know if they could figure it out.

On the other hand, there was Daniel in Max's universe. He didn't know how to explain this, but he hadn't felt well since Max said he was going to gp. It was annoying to know that Max was spending time with someone else. Wasn't jealous of himself?

He had spent almost an hour staring at the ceiling of his hotel room. Whenever he tried to think of something else, his mind would wander back to Max. Max's vision was in front of them every time he tried to close his eyes.

With a deep sigh, he turned to the side of the bed and checked the clock on the table by the bed. The digital clock was showing 10pm. It should have been 6 a.m. in Perth by now. If he called Michael at this hour, he would have to listen to him talking about this all the time. But he really needed to talk to someone. He will have woken up at 7 a.m. anyway to go for a morning run. 

He reached out on the table beside the bed and took his phone. After pressing on his name and starting the call, he turned his gaze back to the ceiling. 

The phone rang a few times but Michael didn't pick up. He's sleepy voice came from the handset as Daniel was just thinking about turning it off. “Dan, for God's sake. It is 6 o'clock in the morning. What do you want?"

Daniel sat up on the bed and leaned his back against the headboard. "I need to talk."

When Michael's reply was a little delayed, Daniel thought the other was asleep. "At this hour?" And it really sounded like he was going to sleep at any moment.

Daniel tried to ignore his friend's comment. He would tell Michael everything in his life. He was his best friend, after all. Sometimes he would let him know even while going to the toilet. As such, he told Michael everything as soon as he left Charles and Lando's home. After all, there wasn't much to explain. 

Normally, you wouldn't believe it if someone told you that there are parallel universes on the phone and that he is a f1 driver in another world. Michael didn't believe it either. He thought it was one of Daniel's pranks. Later, Daniel sent him a screenshot of Max's death news. Because Michael had attended one of his talks with Max earlier, he knew he would recognize the boy from the picture in the news. 

"I told you I'm famous Max's universe." Daniel began his words. He didn't know how to continue. Frankly, he wasn't quite sure what was bothering him. "Max will go to gp and watch him over the weekend."

"Yes I remember." He said. His voice was muffled because he had just woken up.

Daniel turned his head towards his lap. He was playing with his pajamas with one of his empty hands. "I don't know."

"Did you wake me up at this hour for something you don't know." his voice sounded disappointed.

Daniel's gaze wandered through the hotel room. He studied it carefully, as if the answers were hidden inside the room. He hadn't admitted it to himself before, so it was hard to say it out loud.

Michael spoke again, acting before him. "If that's all you have to tell, I'm sleeping."

"Stop!" Daniel shouted quickly. "It annoys me that Max spends time with other Daniel."

There was silence for a while on the other side of the line. “What is bothering you? You said Max wanted to talk to him to see what was different. " Michael's voice sounded more awake now.

“Yes but…” Daniel let out a deep sigh. "What if he loves him more than me." 

Michael gave a big laugh against his friend's words. They both knew it was impossible. Even though Max and Daniel had only been communicating on their phone for a year, they hadn't let anyone else in between them. Sometimes even Michael became the second choice.

"You don't take me seriously." Daniel said sadly. Michael stopped laughing as soon as he heard the other's voice. It wasn't common for Daniel to be in a dilemma. 

“Daniel, you don't have to worry about that. Max likes to talk to you. With you. ”Michael said, pressing the word specifically with you.

Daniel threw himself back and lay down. on the bed. “But he's cooler than me. He's a racing driver and I'm a farmer boy. What if Max chooses it to me. ”

“Daniel…” Michael stopped “You don't have to worry about that. You are the Daniel that Max loves."

He was silent for a while. "Well, I guess you're right." Dan said.

"Well, now I'm going to sleep." Said Michael. He hung up the phone without letting Daniel answer.

Daniel took the phone from his ear and looked sadly at the screen. With a deep breath, he put the phone beside him and waited for sleep to come.


End file.
